


Stories of the Second Self: Third Year of Forever, Dale Groneck Journal Entry

by John_Steiner



Series: Alter Idem [88]
Category: Urban Fantasy - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:49:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22594330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Steiner/pseuds/John_Steiner
Summary: Entering into his third year of undeath, Dale recounts the transition from military occupation into a new normal of Cincinnati City life. Simply being a vampire no longer sends people screaming, however Dale learns that reconnecting to family isn't going to be wonderful.
Series: Alter Idem [88]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618813





	Stories of the Second Self: Third Year of Forever, Dale Groneck Journal Entry

You know, for a couple years there things were touch and go. Military checkpoints, whole streets and neighborhoods cordoned off, armed patrols, you name it. However, things started to settle down. There's still crazy shit goin' on, but now cops are back on it, and the city is in charge of itself again.

I'm Dale Groneck, that guy in the last two journal entries who just one day turned into a vampire. Couldn't help it, really. Not much of a journal writer, which might explain why I only make an entry once a year, I guess.

So, anyway, that's the big news around town, that we're back under our elected city council, and the boys in green packed up their deal. People stopped freaking out at me-- so much. Still happens, but it's less often and other people frown at them for it. It's weird, the werewolves now take more shit from people than we do, and they don't eat anybody.

Speaking of which, street dealing got a fair bit easier. It's now a custom that we look for donors in predawn hours, and more people are lining up for it. Werewolves are the most reliable donors, because they can do it daily racking up a good thirty to thirty five bucks a pop.

First howler who made a deal to me was this Guardsman guy. Ran into him later, and he was willing to deal again, if I waited an hour. Couldn’t, because had to catch my EMT class. See, now we need to be certified and the courtesy window for drawing blood without it is closing.

I've heard vampires say they won't touch howler blood, because it supposedly tastes different and they don't like it. I'm tellin' you now, it's bullshit. Oh, I'm sure the werewolves have some other genetic thing goin' on so as to turn into these upright standin' wolves, but from what I can tell their blood's the same as anyone else's.

Weirdly, it's true of Fae also, except for a break in their antlers. Apparently, their antlers aren't like real deer or elk, because there's some other circulatory thing just in the antlers, but its some super-fine granular crystalline shit. We can’t touch it unless it’s much diluted with blood drawn off anywhere else from a Fae.

I'm getting off track. My point of people chillin' out is that I can talk to them and they don't loose their shit. Figured I'd try that with my family too, but seems that's different. Ran into my cousin who, like everyone else, thought I was killed during the occupation and screamed when I approached him. Dude's this big buff muscle guy, and he screams like a kid caught in a power outage at night.

I get him to relax, and catch him up on everything that went down with me. Then I ask about everyone else, and then he's all evasive 'n shit, tellin' me that my parents and siblings decided that no matter what, that I was dead and gone. Not believing him, I went to my parents' house in Columbus, Ohio.

That hit me hard.

Fuckin' place is trashed, and it took me a couple weeks to get any information. Almost got incinerated when I stayed out past dawn, when I hadn't prepared to be up that long. But, finally found a city office that was put back up and running. Turns out they'd moved right before the shit hit the fan.

I revealed to the office workers that I was looking for my dad and mom, and provided proof of unlife as well as corporate personhood documents, and then they let me have addresses. They told me, however, that they were required by law to inform my parents.

Yeah, shit.

'Okay,' I said, and set off to find them. They didn't take calls from me, having hung up the first time I tried to speak on the phone. Reaching their address, in the day no less, and knocked on the door. Nothin'. So I waited until they had to go somewhere and tried talking to them. Dad wouldn't even look at me, and my mom just gave me the stinkeye and pointed to my car in front of their house.

I don't know where I first heard it, but it's true. You can never go home again. For the first time in over a year, I seriously considered stripping off my protection right there. Kinda like that Buddhist guy in Vietnam I read about in a high school history class.

But, I didn't. Didn't cry either. Somehow that would've given my mom the satisfaction she seemed to want. Got in my car and calmly drove off. From my rear view mirror I watched my old man drop to his knees and bury his face in his hands. I guess that counts for something.

Headed back to Cincinnati around nightfall and, bein' my day off, just walked around at night. Somewhere by one of the parks is when it socked me and I collapsed onto a bench crying. Also was furious, so much so that I busted the shit out of that bench, and skipped out before anyone saw me.

The old vampire flicks had it that once you turn you got no human family anymore. Now I know why.


End file.
